REAL, ACTUALLY PATIENT DAY!!

Holy smokes I was so nervous for this day!!

My mom came in as my first patient. It was so good to have my best friend there with me! We were able to laugh and joke about a lot, and she was serious when needed. It took way longer than I had imagined!! I didn't even get to OHI!! I felt pretty dumb about that! Probing a whole mouth went a lot smoother than it did the last time and I can see now that with time it will keep getting easier every time I actually do it.

I remembered and knew a lot more than I thought I would, which was a confidence builder for me! X-rays didn't go too well, but Instructor Vining taught me a trick that I hope I can repeat. I'm going to be a lean mean bite wing x-ray taking machine someday!! ha ha.

Overall I did not feel very good about this experience, but it was a very good one to have!!

I'm oober nervous for real patients all next semester!!

Day two in Marcy's mouth.

On Wednesday I finished treatment with Marcy. I can not believe that they are going to trust us with real patients in a month and a half! I am so not ready!!

Today we went through OHI again, did a sealant, and dedicated the rest of the time on scaling and using the ultra sonic. Time flew by for me. I'm sure you would get a different story if you talked to Marcy though. It is really hard to keep your mouth open for that long!

I hadn't got any scaling done on Monday so I had the whole mouth ahead of me when I started on Wednesday. I scaled my first quad and missed some calculus that was impossible to get off!! I used just about every instrument that I had trying to get that off, I'm not sure if it is all gone either. I was super slow again today and only got finished with her whole mouth because I used the ultra sonic on most of her mouth. Is that ok?? I'm not sure the about the rational of the ultra sonic.. when to use it, how much to use it, and that stuff. I did learn that on recession it is not a good thing to use! I sent Marcy through the roof!! I feel so bad!!

So, I didn't feel good about how things went on Wednesday either... I just wanted to move away to Mexico when I was finished..... I didn't though, I'm still here. I'm not sure how I feel about it though. I guess this stuff is supposed to get easier sometime... when is that going to be????

Not excited to try to do something that I don't know how to do again on Monday. Ugh.

mock hygienist day!

Yes, mock hygienist! That is how I felt about today. I am not a dental hygienist yet and it is going to be a long time until I am. I enjoyed going through the appt as it will be expected next semester, but I was super slow!! I took like and hour and a half to probe Marcy's mouth. I've never done a full mouth probe before and I am not looking forward to doing it again! The part that I struggle with the most is seeing the darn measurements!! I can visualize it, but reading the measurement is a struggle for me! My eyes get all blurred and I can't tell how many lines are showing on the probe. I felt like my face was in the machine that gets your perscription at the eye doctor. They keep asking if one or two or A or B is clearer and by the end I have no idea because my eyes are so tired and glazed over. Will I be able to see it and read it better with more practice?? What if it doesn't get easier for me to see it? I am scared!!

So, I don't feel good about today, but I feel better for doing it.

Mock Patient... Take two

Today I was the patient again. Marcy scaled/ultrasonic'd my whole mouth today. I've got to admit I don't like the feeling of my lower lingual bar after it is cleaned, I like it smooth and slimy! ha ha.

Marcy did very well again! She found some calculus and removed it! She is very cool and composed about everything. I don't think I'll be able to stay as calm as she was about everything. It was fun to watch her use different instruments for different things. I'm excited to one day be able to have a preference and knowledge about when to use what!

She placed a sealant today too, which I love!! Bring those suckers on!

My mouth was open forever, but it is fun to be the patient for each other!

Mock patient day!

Yesterday I was the patient all day. I got to wear street clothes which was very fun! Marcy was my hygienist and she did very well. It was good to see the real flow of things in the clinic. I learned that probing is going to take me forever!! This mock patient thing is a great help!! I can't wait for my turn next week.

Sealants!!

Today was another one of those super busy days. I have a feeling that everyday is going to be like that from here on out. I worked with Kristie today and she placed two beautiful sealants like a pro!! (At the same time!) We started out rushed today because they knew that they were pressed for time in the morning clinic.

On Kristie I first did a HH review, then charted the HHx and HHxRx. This must be done before I even touch her mouth. And when I am writing the HHx in the chart today things were cleared up and we write no changes since the medications were entered into the chart, not since the last appt. Please remember that. After HHx and HHxRx we used the disclosing agent, used TB, TP, Sel Pol, and DF. Then we went through and found which teeth could be filled. I sealed probably the hardest place to see and reach in Kristie's mouth! I feel so bad! I totally beat her up today trying to look all the way back there. She didn't complain one bit either! I had to do it twice too!! That sucker better stay in!

It is good to do more than one thing in clinic so that we can start to understand the whole system, but man it is confusing and stressful, especially when there are so many students and so few teachers.

Air Powder Polish, Prophy Angles, and Dental Screening PE!!

Today was really fun!! We were taught how to use the air powder polisher and the prophy angles. Then we were able to practice it on each other. The air powder polisher can take tarnish off of a penny! That is so cool! I worked on McCall again today and she braved through the air powder polisher for a long time! I felt really bad once it was my turn in the chair and I found out how uncomfortable it was! The powder tastes nasty and it shoots out at your lips and cheeks. The hair barriers were fun though! I might be converted to using them instead of having to worry about pulling my hair back.... ;) I still have powder all over my face!! It is kind of gross.
The Prophy angle is so hard to keep at the right rpm's!! It just zooms away! ha ha. I need to decided if I want to use the rheostat with my right or my left foot. Lauren says she used her left, but I think I like the right foot... we shall see.

We also did the Dental Screening PE today. That was a huge thing!! I don't know how I did yet, but my fingers are crossed... although I already know some if the stuff that I did wrong. Dern it!!

Well today was fun!! Hasta Luego!

A Relaxed Monday

On Monday this week we talked about OHI. That was the PE that we were to pass off. I had to explain to McCall how periodontal disease and caries is developed, avoided, and the risk factors of both. It was fun to try to instruct her on how to take care of her teeth... but really hard to explain! I think I need to work on that!

We had some practice time as well. I used the 204 S for the first time. It is really fun! It curves around the tooth a whole lot so there is less need for me to crank the instrument. McCall is a great patient!!

My turn to be the Dental Hygienist!

Today was a whirlwind!!! Holy Smokes! 5 PE's in one day! Let's not play that game again! YIKES!!

Madi was my patient all day and I had to do everything all the way through OHI. Probing, and universal instrumentation was pretty rough today. Her tissues were really tight so it was hard to go subgingivally. Adaptation, Anterior Instrumentation, and Treatment Planning weren't too bad though. I didn't feel like I had enough time to do anything all the way right today. Taking pictures with the intraoral camera was fun! Charting was rough. I just can't seem to figure out what to write where. I was surprised at how well my probing depths matched Instructor Hemsley's. They all didn't match, but it was pretty close the whole time.

I need to work more on probing, posterior instrumentation, and charting!!

THE END.

A Day in the Life of a Patient

On Monday I arrived at clinic with the wonderful surprise of finding out that I would be the patient for the whole day!! I was Madi's patient so I was in a window seat all day! It was wonderful! Madi had to do everything that she would do with a normal patient all the way through OHI. I got to have the disclosing agent in my mouth again, not my favorite part! It was good to watch her do everything in order. It is helping to put all the pieces together! We pulled out the intraoral camera, that is really fun!

Nice day of relaxation!!

Dental Charting... (The green sheet)

Today was a great relax and practice day. We learned how to chart on the Dental Hygiene Assessment Form, the green one. When we have a new patient we go through their whole mouth and chart all previous restorations, and suspicions lesions, and abnormalities. This is another one of those things that is going to need some eye recognition practice. How can you tell the difference from a sealant and a composite filling?? That is rough! It's kind of fun that we get to color stuff on the sheet. I think I'm going to try to chart the stuff in my family member's mouths too!

I worked with madi today and she pretty much had her whole mouth memorized, so the charting when really fast. She was a great patient and let me play around with the scalers in her mouth, in the extra time that we had. I was really grateful to her for letting me practice.

Relaxing day in clinic.... loved it!!

Disclosing!

Yesterday in clinic we learned about OHI. (Oral Hygiene Instruction... I think)
It was a fun day because we did a lot of work on each other. We were taught how to find the PFI (Plaque Free Index) using disclosing agent. It was a picture taking day! Tori was our first example and I gathered that she wasn't to excited about it. ha ha. Tanya and I got to work on each other again, which was fun! We have some good times! It is a bit difficult to count the surfaces for the PFI. I'm not sure if it is all the pink places or all the colored places. And how do you tell if it has enough pink to be counted?? I just don't know. Practice makes perfect though, right? After the disclosing and PFI, we brushed and flossed each other's teeth. That was real fun! I like that part!

I just remembered! Before we did the disclosing we checked the gingiva for any irregularities and gingivitis. That is tough! We are going to have to train our eyes to look and find the correct things! Right now, for me, I'm lucky if I find an irregularity, I missed a lot until Intructor Chaffe pointed them out.

It was a fun day yesterday, and we all left with blue tongues! ha ha.

Posterior Scaling!!

Today we pulled out the big guns (The Barnhart)!! Posterior Scaling ladies and gentlemen! YIKES!! Ha ha. Professor Costley said that was the hardest skill that we will learn, and I believe her! Adaptation, Angulation, and Activation are 3 of the many things that need to be remembered while scaling. You've also got to think of the correct working end, fulcroming correctly, being able to see what you are doing, and trying not to make your partner bleed! Luckily I brought by glasses so I wasn't getting all fogged up like I was on Monday!

It was way fun scaling huge black chunks of calculus off of my typodont! Kim said that I was doing well so I felt pretty good about today! I did make Sarah bleed a few times, but luckily she's a sweetheart and didn't hate me for cutting her! It's a pretty funny thing that while we are learning this trade it is totally ok to cut each other and make each other bleed!! ha ha. And it is expected! We sit in clinic and let an amateur attack our tender soft oral tissue with a blade that can carve away your fingernails!! It is SO GREAT!!!

Oh another thing to remember is the wave, door nob, and pull of the wrist and not the fingers. I also need to remember to keep my angle open enough and twist towards the toe while I am in the col area!! I think Kim told me that a million times today! ha ha. While I was working on Sarah my hands were getting so tired I was shaking!! I had to take breaks every now and then to give my hands a rest! I need to strengthen those muscles!!

I brought home my instruments and typodont for some weekend practice!! WOO WOO!! Who's going to voluneer?? ... mom???

Breathing: Exhaling and Inhaling in a regular pattern...

The first clinic day in October! The semester is flying by! Today started out pretty rough, it wasn't a great morning, it was raining, and I forgot my typodont. Luckily Karlie let me borrow hers. She totally saved me! We started scaling for the first time today! WOO WOO!! We are real, calculus removing dental hygienist... well almost. ha ha. We just did the anterior today, it was really fun!! I missed Tanya today, but McCall and MeChel filled in for her. They were really fun to work with, we all took turns making each other bleed. Yikes!! It wasn't too bad though. While I was working on McCall I went to exhale and realized that I wasn't even breathing!! ha ha I think that it was in part because I was concentrating so hard, and part because I was trying not to fog up my goggles. (I forgot the perscription lenses today.) Ha ha I am going to have to practice the in and out breathing like a pregnant woman. I need to get better at adapting as well.

McCall was a really good sport and didn't complain once about all the blood that she was losing. The day started rough, but as I concentrated on what I was doing and learning I really enjoyed this clinic day!! Can't wait for Wednesday!!

Hasta!!

"Get up on that fulcrum!"

I'm hoping bad that Tanya put that as her blog title today too! Ha ha it almost sounds dirty and is my new favorite dental hygiene quote, thanks to Professor Costley. :)

So today we learned how to use our explorers. I felt really prepared today because I got up early and read out of Neild, studied the PE's that I needed to pass off, was early to school, and made it to institute. What a productive morning! OH! And I remembered by SIDE SHIELDS for my glasses!! I looked cute, I won't lie. ;)

Doing the actual exploring is a bit... I mean a ton harder than reading about it!! It is a good thing that we had a little practice with our probes before exploring because it's way more complex. We were all really frustrated and overwhelmed just working on our typodonts and were scared to work on each other. I was especially nervous because I hurt Heather the whole time I probed her last week. Jamie was my partner for clinic today. Her and Jodie came to our clinic session to make up a missed one. Tanya and I loved the company in our pod today! We were complete for the first time ever! Anyways... so Jamie let me learn how to explore in her mouth. Yes, I did make her bleed and I did poke her lip a couple times, but she said there was no pain so that is ok right?? ha ha she was a good sport! We all struggle with keeping our stacks stacked, "getting up on our fulcrums", and indirect vision! Professor Costley held onto my hand while a probed a few of Jamie's teeth and that was so helpful! You really have to adapt to the tooth a whole lot more than I thought! It totally makes sense when you think about it though.

All in all, today was stressful but I felt like I did pretty well. I passed off two PE's too! Woo Woo!! I like it when it is a good day in clinic! Perfect to start off the week! I hope it's a good one! :)

Here comes the Probe!!

Today we poked each other for the first time! YIKES!! We first practiced with marshmallows and candy corn. The tough part was keeping my "stack" stacked. My ring finger and middle finger did not like sticking together and my middle finger just likes to hang out and wave at everyone. After our instructor explained that the maneuvering is more in the wrist than the fingers I think I got better.

Before we saw a real patient we practiced on the typodont. I think that mine's name is going to be Lucas! Ya, like?? We had to maneuver around a bunch of calculus on the typodonts which was kind of hard. And you have to use a lot of pressure to get in the sulcus unlike a real patient. I liked practicing on the typodont... and then I got a real patient in the chair. I probed Heather today for like 10 minutes. We got cut short on time because of the Vitals PE and a presentation from the past president of UDHA. It was pretty frustrating trying to probe on a real person. Heather said I was hurting her the whole time and I couldn't tell that I was pushing too hard. I felt really bad and am really frustrated that I couldn't distiguish what was too hard. I don't know how I am going to practice it either. One thing that I can already see as a problem is going to be actually seeing!! The probe measurments are soo small! I hope that we are given more time to practice probing soon!

KARLIE!!! Get yourself some side shields for your glasses!!!

All in all, today was a bit frustrating. I feel like I don't know anything, and of what I do know I pretty much suck at it. ha ha
PRACTICE... Practice... PATIENCE... Patience... PATIENTS... Beware!!! :)

Checking Vitals in Clinic

It is the 13th of September. I can't believe the time is going by so fast! My last post I mentioned that I couldn't wait to walk into clinic with a confident attitude. That didn't happen today. I'll try to be patient!

We went over our Vitals PE today. Last week when we did our health history PE we went through how to do vitals so today was more of a review. (Which is always good!) I took my Aneroid Sphygmomanometer and Stethoscope home last weekend so that I could practice with my family. I took everyone's vitals last night with the help of our Willard nurses (Nick and Kelli). That was so helpful!! I still have a little bit of a hard time doing it though. My biggest problem is that I forget the numbers! I listen so hard for the systolic measurement and then get focused on the diasolic measurment so I forget the first number. Then when I am trying to remember the systolic measurement, the diasolic shoots right out of my head! I think I need to write the numbers down as I get them. This is the same thing that happens when I do pulse and respirations! I didn't know I was such an airhead!! I also need to practice being more discrete when I am watching for respirations. I think a wrist watch will help with that. I wouldn't have to look up to the wall to see a clock if I wore a watch.

I passed off my equipment maintenance PE today with Professor Costley. YIKES! That was the first time that I had a PE passed off from her. I was a bit nervous! Next time I have to do the Positioning and Ergonomics PE. I need to study hard for that one!!

Day One of Week Four... went well :)

HHxRx - HHx - OE - status Rx...

Health Histories!! Today we learned how to do a health history with a patient. We went through the health history paper, did vitals for the first time, looked up medications in our DDH, and charted all that. It's kind of tough to internalize this type of stuff because we have no way to make it practical knowledge. I took a health history paper home and my stethoscope and BP cuff so that I can practice with my family members. Hopefully that will help me out! It is going to be hard to remember what to write and where to write it. I hope so bad that all of this comes back to me when I need it!! It is actually pretty cool to look up the medications and see what they do and what the side effects are.

All in all, clinic went by really fast this morning. The stuff that we learned today and struggled to internalize will be second nature to us in time. I can not wait for the day when we all walk into the clinic with confidence on our faces because we know what to do and how to do it!!
Will that be in this lifetime???

One Confusing Day In Clinic...

I'm writing this a couple days late, I hope that is okay! Last Wednesday in clinic was a little rough for me. I need to make sure that I have enough sleep the night before clinic from now on. I was tired so it seemed like everything that was being said just kept bouncing off my ears instead of sinking in. I'm sure this was partially because it was a really hard PE that we learned.

We were taught the positioning and posture that we will be expected to adopt while working on a patient. Neild has some great graphics depicting the right places to be for certain sextants, but I still struggled. "Surfaces towards, hands together." "Surfaces away, hands apart." "Turn the patient away when your legs are spread the widest." (I really might have to stretch to be able to do 9 o'clock right.) It is going to take some time to master the clock positions!! At least I understand that am and pm have nothing to do with the chair positions!! HA HA Thanks Heather for bringing that up again! Blonde moment! I can't believe I had to ask that!

Besides the positioning PE we learned the maintenance PE, which is perddy simple! Oh, how I love cleaning the traps! ha ha. Kim encouraged me to get all the PE's out of the way that I could so I actually passed off 3!! It is going to be a great relief to have those done!! I was really surprised that I tackled that many! I have to remember: 1. Mask. 2. Glasses. 3. Hand scrub. 4. Gloves. I think.... uh... I'm going to go check that out!

Week 2 in Clinic

Today started the second week of my journey in the Dental Hygiene Program. I am so happy about being in this program! I love all the girls and love seeing them everyday!! I seriously could not be happier! I know that it is going to be a rough sometimes, but I am loving everything so far! Everyday last week I came home saying that it was my favorite!

Today we first learned the exposure control PE's. We dusted, disinfected, set up, and broke down our stations to get ready for our FIRST BREATHING PATIENT!! I started out as MeChel's patient and she squirted water in my mouth and sucked it out for like 30 minutes. She did well! It was fun! I only got a little bit wet... :)

Then I brought MeChel over to my station and started work on her. I hope I didn't have bad breathe because I totally forgot to put my mask on before I started spraying water in her mouth, with Professor Costley standing right next to me. Bad move!! It was really fun to play with a real person in the chair, even though we were only spraying and sucking water. I played with the HVE (High Volume Evacuator, not High Velocity Evacuator), the saliva ejector, and blue boa. I think I may have given MeChel an in-the-mouth-hickey!! Oops!

We also did a quick overview of the steps for sterilizing instruments.

Next clinic day I get to pass off my PPE PE. I need to remember to pick up some barriers for my glasses so I can wear them during clinic!! It was a good day in clinic today! I can't wait to do it again!!

Day ONE in Clinic

Today was the first day of clinic and the first of school. I almost had an anxiety attack this morning trying to get everything ready! We lugged our instruments up the hill to the top of campus and then my locker decided that it didn't want to open. Thank Goodness that McCall got it open! Thank You!

Tanya and I are in Pod 4, we are kind of exiled. But we are going to have secret parties over here in the back corner.... :)

Anyways, we unloaded our instruments in our boxes and drawers and got acquainted with our stations. I am so excited! We toured around the clinic to get familiar with where things are. The get-to-know-you game was fun!

My name is officially entered in EaglesSoft on all of the dates that I will be in clinic. WOO WOO!! Let the games begin!!

Orientation

Here I sit, next to Whitnee and Karlie. I have just created my first blog. I used to be against these things... oh wells. :)